Hong Ying

First of all - I got this book on Netgalley in enchange to my honest review.

So on with the review. I always enjoy reading memoirs, and I've read quite a few that are about China. What always surprises me though, is the way people in China are portrayed. If this was just one book, I would think - yes, the author must be biased, maybe they're making it up, maybe they're painting it too strong. But two, three books? Two, three books - and I'm scared of China. Not even the regime - I'm scared of show more the people, of the culture. The author paints a very dark social scene in China - a scene with so many prejudices and dark beliefs that people hold in their hearts.. Where prejudice and opinion is more important than humanity. This isn't the first book I read where it's like this. Maybe it's because they are books written by immigrants, because they left, taking their pain?

I found this book interesting, although extremely dark. I found the actions of almost all people completely impossible to understand - the lies, the righteousness, the mere reasons they do one thing or another, both for small and big things. Cultural gaps? Or do I just live in a completely different world? From the books I've read about China, I have to say books about Nazis scare me less. Because in those books, there are "bad guys" and the insanity is temporary. In memoirs like this, the darkness and insanity is NORMAL. Perhaps even proper? That's what chills you to the bone. Do read this book. It will open your eyes to the world around you. Maybe you will feel like the little world you live in in quite cozy and nice for a change. show less

A book that has so much promise, set against the backdrop of the uprising in Tiananmen Square in 1989, but which ultimately fails in its execution. Hong Ying makes her points about corruption in China, the yearning for democracy, and the need to treat women as equals, all of which are strong messages, so the book is not without merit. Unfortunately, her style is melodramatic, and far too focused on sex. I understand using sexual freedom to make a feminist statement, and even to make an show more anti-communist statement, but she comes back to it again and again, like a crutch. It doesn’t feel honest, as with authors like Anais Nin, or Erica Jong in her better moments, it just feels like it’s in there to sell books. The orgy scene at the end was especially ludicrous. Yes, that’s right, in a book where the Tiananmen uprising itself is in the background, referred to after the fact and mostly from its after-effects, there is an orgy scene. It’s an interesting book, but Hong Ying lacks discipline and maturity, and the story could have been so much better developed. show less

An autobiography of a life that I simply have no comprehension of. Born in China during the 60s famine, this tells of a girl's coming of age, how she finds her place in her family, and finds herself. But it's set against a background of dire poverty and family secrets. She doesn't fit and wants to get out - education being her passport, but she is begrudged that freedom by her mother. It's almost unbearably hard, but is not without hope.

An interest premise, life in some of the seamier areas of Shanghai over a couple of decades in the early 20th century, but it’s not well executed. It’s like a melodramatic romance novel set to this period, and unfortunately Hong Ying’s writing is mediocre at best, and immature otherwise. She doesn’t go into any depth or provide any real insights into the period either, so set your expectations to ‘fluff’ if you decide to pick this one up.

After we learn early on that the young show more woman sold into servitude has “mysteriously large breasts,” (lol) she’s soon the happy lover of one of the most powerful men in the underworld of Shanghai, which aside from being implausible, also takes attention away from possibly describing what such a life might really have been like. The story that has her rising to fortune on the stage while going through a few men was somewhat interesting, and Ying pulls off a nice plot twist in a murder, but it goes on far too long. The bits with her child growing up to be an actor and the author inserting herself as a fictional researcher get to be tedious in a book that wears out its welcome.

As for the sex bits, they suffer because of her writing, and aren’t very erotic. Maybe if you’re into being watched you find something of interest, as it’s a recurring theme (e.g. sex in front of someone watching, sex while looking in a mirror). Otherwise be prepared for passages like this: “Her chest protruded like a statue and the breasts he had fantasized about for so many years were firm, the nipples standing up cockily, like warriors.” (what?) And: “His hair was messy and his eyes were burning with passion; even his Adam’s apple was pulsating.” (I was giggling).

The best quote was this one:
“If I love several men, I am still young. If I only love one man, I am already old; if I don’t love anyone, I do not exist.” show less